A variety of inflatable structures have been described in the art. These inflatable structures include devices in which the tent sheathing or sheeting is itself inflatable, as in a cellular arrangement, or in which the sheathing is unitary with spaced-apart inflatable frame cells. Alternately, the structures comprise an inflatable frame covered by the sheathing. Examples of such structures are discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,197,681 (Holcombe) and U.S. Pat. No. 4,959,901 (Parish).
The inflatable structures in the prior art often have inadequate load bearing capacity and thus are prone to slouch or collapse when loaded with a heavy snow, for example. In addition, all bends in these structures are pre-formed, making them relatively complicated and expensive to manufacture. The prior art inflatable structures also lack versatility as they are designed to assume a single fixed configuration when inflated. Therefore, a need exists for an improved inflatable frame and structure.